VietNamNet Bridge – The negative impacts of climate change on
Viet Nam are obvious but the country remains confused about an effective,
comprehensive response strategy, experts said at a meeting held last Friday to
mark the World Meteorology Day (March 18).

Experts
as well as provincial and city representatives said there were differences of
opinion on a specific strategy to minimise the consequences of climate change.

They
said that the actual, specific impacts experienced by regions and localities
nationwide were yet to be assessed, and this had hindered the formulation of
effective response plans at the local level.

The rise
in seawater level was often mentioned, but there was no evaluation of salinity
intrusion into the mainland, particularly of freshwater sources like the Dong
Nai River, said a representative of the Dong Nai Province's Environmental
Protection Division.

There
was also no evaluation of the impact such intrusion would have on the
livelihoods of nearly 16 million local people, he said.

He also
wanted to know what the benchmark was to calculate the rise of seawater levels
and how climate change would affect the frequency of storms, saying there was no
clarity on these issues.

Duong
Van Chi of the Mekong Delta Rice Institute said that agricultural production,
which plays a crucial role in national development, especially in the delta
regions, had been affected by unusual weather in recent years.

Significant impacts had been seen on rice cultivation, the output of crops in
general and in animal husbandry, he said.

But
relevant authorities and agencies remained unclear on how the agricultural
sector could be helped to deal with climate change impacts, Chi added.

An
official from the Steering Board for the Southwestern Region said there were
several climate change response plans that lacked teeth because the close
co-ordination needed between relevant ministries, agencies and localities was
missing.

Adverse impacts

Tran
Thuc, head of the Viet Nam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment
under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said climate change had
caused temperatures in Viet Nam to rise by 0.5 degrees Celsius over the past
five decades, temperatures in winter to rise faster than in summer, and
unseasonal and abnormally heavy rains to occur more frequently.

He cited
as an example the downpour in November 2008 that triggered unprecedented
flooding in Ha Noi and adjacent provinces.

Thuc
said the frequency of cold spells in the northern region had dropped sharply to
249 over the 1991-2000 period from 288 in 1971-1980, but they had intensified in
strength.

The
number of powerful storms hitting the country had been more than expected in
recent years, he said.

Water
levels in the East Sea had risen by 4.7mm a year while coastal areas in the
country were seeing a 2.9mm annual rise in seawater levels, he added.

Nguyen
Dong Hoai, head of the Ca Mau Hydrology Division, said the protective forest
area (mainly cajeput forests) in Mekong Delta province had suffered serious
losses of late. As many as 60 seawalls had lost their protected forest areas and
the width of 300km of remaining levees had been reduced to 20-100m.

He said
the southernmost province in the country was facing the risk of having no
protective forests left for the seawall system in the next three years.

To cope
with the situation, Vietnamese authorities mapped out a scenario late last year,
anticipating a rise of 2 to 3 degrees Celsius in temperatures by 2100 and 10 to
20 per cent increase in rainfall.

It
estimated the highest rise in seawater levels of 82cm stretching from Ca Mau to
Kien Giang provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, and the lowest of 64cm in
Mong Cai Town in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

The
national average rise in seawater level by 2100 was estimated at 75cm.

The
scenario also warned that a 1m increase in seawater levels would submerge around
1,600sq.km of the Hong (Red) River Delta, 2,500sq.km of coastal areas, and as
much as 15,000sq.km of the Mekong Delta.

Practical plans

Le Cong
Thanh, director of the Department of Hydro-Meteorology and Climate Change, the
country should accord top priority over the next five years to drawing up
masterplans for the Mekong and the Red river deltas, and to reinforcing the sea
and river dyke systems.

The
plans should cover prevention of inner city flooding, modernise the disaster
warning system, and regularly assess the situation of greenhouse emissions, he
said.

A
representative of the Danish Embassy said it was also important that the role of
each ministry, agency and locality in co-ordinating and implementing the
national strategy for climate change response was specified.

The next
task was to define which targets should be prioritised, and not be too ambitious
by setting too many targets at the same time, he said.

Le Xuan
Tuyen of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorology said top priority should be
given to the agricultural sector given that it was the most vulnerable to
climate change impacts and that it was a spearhead sector for the economy. Viet
Nam is a leading exporter of rice, pepper, rubber, coffee and cashew nuts in the
world.

Deputy
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha emphasised the need
to concretise the national response to climate change soon, but added it was
impossible to come up with a strategy overnight.

Tran Thi
Thanh Phuong of the World Bank's Viet Nam office said at the seminar that the
bank would provide funding of US$800 million to help Viet Nam finalise its
climate change response strategy.